"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Amnesty International calls on Castro regime to end harassment of human rights defenders

Cuba must stop ‘cat-and-mouse game’ with political activists

The Cuban authorities must end their ongoing harassment of political and
human rights activists, Amnesty International said today after a former
prisoner of conscience was released following his latest arrest and
detention in a police station for 36 hours.

José Daniel Ferrer
García, coordinator of the organization Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unión
Patriótica de Cuba, UNPACU), was set free on Wednesday, two days after
police arrested him in the eastern province of Holguín.

He was
not charged with any crime. His family had no idea of his whereabouts
until he was returned home by the authorities on Wednesday afternoon.

“The
latest arrest and short-term detention of José Daniel Ferrer García
continues the Cuban authorities’ cat-and-mouse game with political
dissidents and human rights activists,” said James Burke, Campaigner on
the Caribbean at Amnesty International.

“This practice – used as
a form of harassment and intimidation to repress legitimate, peaceful
activism and freedom of expression – must come to a halt.”

UNPACU
was formed in mid-2011 as an umbrella group of Cuban dissident
organizations in and around the province of Santiago de Cuba who seek
democratic change by non-violent means.

Since its creation, the
Cuban authorities have used arbitrary detention and other measures to
harass and intimidate its members. One member, Wilman Villar Mendoza
– whom Amnesty International named a prisoner of conscience – died last
January on a hunger strike to protest his four-year prison sentence
after a summary trial.

UNPACU coordinator Ferrer García served
eight years of a 25-year jail sentence for his political activism before
being granted conditional release in March 2011.

He was among
75 Cuban dissidents arrested during the so-called “Black Spring”
crackdown in March 2003. Amnesty International adopted all 75 as
prisoners of conscience after they were jailed for the peaceful
expression of critical opinions of the government.

Ferrer García
was among those targeted in part for his participation in the Varela
Project, which called for a national referendum on democratic reforms in
Cuba.

Following his conditional release last year, police in
Santiago de Cuba re-arrested Ferrer García on 2 April 2012 along with 42
other activists – most of them UNPACU members.

All the rest
were set free, but police held Ferrer García on a “public disorder”
charge for a further 27 days, before releasing him on the condition that
he renounce his political activism.

Following his release, José
Daniel Ferrer García told Amnesty International that the authorities
had arrested him to prevent him from travelling to the capital, Havana
where he had planned to hold meetings with other government critics who
are peacefully seeking greater respect for civil and political rights in
Cuba.

He said the ongoing campaign of harassment would not
deter him or his colleagues from continuing with their activism: “Our
goal in Cuba is to establish true rule of law in Cuba where freedom of
expression, freedom of association – all fundamental freedoms – are
respected, and until we do so, we will continue our peaceful struggle.”